This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
For details stats and odds, check out the Fantasy Premier League Saturday Cheat Sheet.
MATCHES (EST)
10:00 a.m: Swansea City v. Arsenal
10:00 a.m: West Ham v. Crystal Palace
10:00 a.m: Watford v. Middlesbrough
10:00 a.m: Sunderland v. Stoke City
10:00 a.m: Burnley v. Southampton
10:00 a.m: Hull City v. Bournemouth
12:30 p.m: Leicester City v. Chelsea
PLAYER RECOMMENDATIONS
GOALKEEPER
Vito Mannone, SUN v. STK ($6,700): An impressive fantasy performance last time out, Mannone will go up against mid-table Stoke. Although Stoke are just slightly below average in terms of shots taken, Sunderland have given up the second-most shots and most shots on goal. Coupled with losing several key midfielders (including their solid holding mid Didier Ndong) to Africa Cup of Nations and injuries, and Sunderland have basically become a Championship side.
Lukasz Fabianski, SWA v. ARS ($6,800): The goalie likely to face to most amount of shots for the slate, Fabianski is hoping to be a bad host to his former club. Since Oliver Giroud returned to the starting lineup, Arsenal have forced the second-most saves. Swansea are the biggest underdogs on the slate and will likely cede possession all match.
DEFENDER
Harry Maguire, HUL v. BOU ($5,300): Hull went for it Tuesday in EFL Cup action and paid the price with multiple injuries to an already weakened squad. With Michael Dawson (shoulder) likely out, Maguire will be charged with leading the defense against a solid Bournemouth attack. He has shown potential to post high point totals without goals and should have a decent floor. Also, if you are looking for a midfield punt, Tom Huddlestone could see a start at CB and is only $4,700.
Kyle Naughton, SWA v. ARS ($5,300): Averaging 19 points per match overall and scoring 23.5 points at Arsenal, Naughton should be plenty busy. For this slate, Arsenal force the most blocked shots, fourth-most interceptions, and fourth-most tackles. Arsenal chose to attack with passes versus crosses, so the right-back will be charged with breaking up play in space rather than center-backs with clearances. Arsenal have also shown that they can be broken down and were routinely beat last match day on the wing.
MIDFIELDER
Mesut Ozil, ARS at SWA ($9,600): Ozil, who should be back from illness, will be placed back into his playmaking role for the Gunners. Up against the lowly Swans, Arsenal should dominate possession, which would give Ozil ample opportunities to create chances. His games logs are up and down, but he is one of the few options with weekly 40-point upside. Swansea have given up the most goals and an above average number of chances created, shots, and shots on goal.
Sofiane Feghouli, WHU v. CRY ($4,900): A name many DFS soccer players will never ever forget, Feghouli is likely to take a large share of the playmaking responsibility with Dimiri Payet out. While he is not Payet, he is cheap and up against a Crystal Palace side who looked horrible against Swansea and just lost their best player to AFCON. Even without Payet, West Ham should be able to control this match. Make sure to check lineups because if Michail Antonio is out, West Ham will be without their best two players.
Robert Snodgrass, HUL v. BOU ($6,900): Scoring twice in his last two matches, Snodgrass now comes up against Bournemouth, who have allowed 19 goals over the past nine matches, including three goals in three of the past four. And now they are down their two best defenders (one to suspension and one to loan recall). Meanwhile, Snodgrass averages 28 fantasy points per game against teams not in the top six.
Junior Stanislas, BOU at HUL ($6,000): Priced at $6K, Stanislas is a cheap option who is able to create chances and get shots on goal, both of which should be plentiful against Hull, who have allowed the second-most goals, chances created and shots on goal this season. Assisting in his past two matches, Stanislas has 40-point upside if he scores a goal of his own.
FORWARD
Diego Costa, CHE at LEI ($13,200): Goals are needed to win GPPs, and Costa has the second-best odds of scoring in the slate (he is also the leading goal scorer in the Premier League this season). Losing their last time out, Chelsea will look to regain their winning ways and Costa is a key. Among forwards on this slate, Costa has the third-most shots and shots on goal over the past six matches (despite missing one game).
Oliver Giroud, ARS at SWA ($11,300): Giroud is on fire and reaping the benefits of being the target man in plus matchups with three goals and two assists since returning to the starting lineup. He gets another plus matchup away to Swansea, who have given up the most goals and an above average number of chances created, shots and shots on goal. With Giroud, we get Arsenal exposure at just over a $2K discount to a href="http://www.rotowire.com/soccer/player.htm?id=16194">Alexis Sanchez.
Peter Crouch, STK at SUN ($6,900): A cheaper option to the big three forwards this week, Crouch has scored in his last two league matches. Meanwhile, Sunderland have allowed the second-most shots, most shots on goal and fourth-most goals this season. Crouch allows you to save cap to go more expensive in midfield while still possessing good goal scoring odds (10th-best for projected starters).
Editor's note: After this article was published, news surfaced that Diego Costa was dropped for this weekend's match by manager Antonio Conte, which is why the above section was crossed out.
